Smokey Brights release new single & video “Reaction;” New album Dashboard Heat out this Friday on Share It Music

Smokey Brights will release their highly anticipated new album Dashboard Heat on Seattle-based non-profit label Share It Music. Ahead of the release, the band is excited to share the video for the record’s final pre-release single “Reaction”, created by Dallhouse Pictures. The video debuted at Glide Magazine and can be shared on YouTube. 

“Reaction,” the final single off Smokey Brights’ record Dashboard Heat, walks the line between vulnerability and toughness. It’s an emotional anthem about navigating self doubt and love, and learning to trust yourself. Featuring heartbreaking lyrics from vocalist Kim West, and an explosive drum performance from Nick Krivchenia, “Reaction” typifies Smokey Brights’ indelible blend of indie storytelling, pop hooks, and passionate playing.

In alignment with Share It Music’s mission, a portion of Dashboard Heat’s proceeds will benefit the band’s chosen charity: The Vera Project, an all-ages nonprofit space committed to fostering personal and community transformation through youth-driven engagement in music and art.

In support of Dashboard Heat, Smokey Brights will embark on a fall tour hitting both coasts, the Southwest, and the Northwest, with stops in Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., and more. The band is also playing a hometown record release show on December 11 at The Crocodile. Tickets are on sale now. 

The first solid rocket fuel that launched spaceships was made with asphalt, paving the way to the moon. Smokey Brights’ new album Dashboard Heat embraces that spirit, using hard truths as fuel to push through gravity and reach for the stars. Longtime fixtures of Seattle’s scene, the band, Kim West (vocals/keys), Ryan Devlin (vocals/guitars), Luke Ragnar (bass/vocals), and Nick Krivchenia (drums), have built a ramshackle rocket of a record, touching on cars, childhood homes, grief, love, and celestial wonder. Produced by Andy D. Park (in exchange for Ryan painting his studio), Dashboard Heat is both their most ambitious and most personal work to date, expanding the band’s sound into wide-open space while holding onto the grounded songwriting that has made them a Northwest mainstay.

Since their 2014 debut Taste for Blood, Smokey Brights have steadily risen with a string of acclaimed releases including Hot Candy (2016), I Love You But Damn (2020), and Levitator (2023), the latter landing alongside their Broken Too EP on KEXP’s Best of 2023 list. With Dashboard Heat, the band leans into both scope and storytelling: the songs range from intimate portraits of childhood and family to expansive meditations on loss, hope, and the pull of the cosmos. Even the album’s physical release stretches beyond the ordinary, featuring surreal artwork and a companion comic book by Brazilian illustrator Bruno Cesar that turns each song into a visual journey. Earlier this year, they filmed a stripped-down, sold-out two-night stand at Seattle’s Rabbit Box Theater, debuting the new record in its entirety. Dashboard Heat marks a bold new chapter for Smokey Brights as they continue to aim higher, brighter, and further.

Smokey Brights Tour Dates

10.08 – Portland, OR @ Swan Dive
10.09 – Bend, OR @ Silver Moon Brewing
10.10 – Redding, CA @ The Dip
10.11 – San Francisco, CA @ Kilowatt Bar
10.12 – Los Angeles, CA @ Gold Diggers
10.13 – Palmdale, CA @ Transplants Brew
10.15 – Las Vegas, NV @ Taverna Costera
10.19 – Albuquerque, NM @ Juno Brewery
10.22 – Denver, CO @ Skylark 
10.23 – Fort Collins, CO @ The Atrium 
10.24 – Salt Lake City, UT @ DLC 
10.25 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
10.25 – Spokane, WA @ Chameleon
11.07 – Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar
11.08 – Buffalo, NY @ The Cave
11.09 – Boston, MA @ Warehouse XI
11.10 – New York, NY @ Berlin
11.11 – Washington, DC @ The Pie Shop
12.11 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile

Dashboard Heat Track List

1. Northgate Way
2. Never Hurts Never Mind
3. All in Who You Know
4. Peace Sign Pentagram
5. Running From the Moon
6. Beautiful Dreamer
7. Reaction
8. Roman Holiday
9. Home
10. Trying to Find a Light
11. Hard to Say